ENGLAND national cricket selector Geoff Miller has admitted that Michael Vaughan could visit India this winter – as part of the England Performance squad.
It was announced on Saturday that Vaughan would not take part in the senior squad's tour of India this winter after he struggled to regain his form following his decision to step down as England captain.
Despite being awarded a central contract
by the England and Wales Cricket board earlier this month, Vaughan, 34, is taking a three-month break from Test cricket. Reports had suggested that the Yorkshire man might join up with the England Performance team in India, or play in South Africa or Australia to try to rediscover his form that saw him become one of England's best batsmen.
However, state side South Australia have denied Vaughan is set for a stint in Adelaide. Darren Lehmann, who spent six seasons playing alongside Vaughan at Yorkshire, was said to be trying to help Vaughan make the move. But South Australia Cricket Association high performance manager Jamie Cox strongly refuted the claims.
"This is categorically not the case," Cox said. "The Redbacks have had no conversations with Mr Vaughan regarding his recruitment to the side."
Miller did confirm that Vaughan could be involved with England's second-string as part of his rehabilitation. He said: "It is a possibility that he could link up with the performance squad, we could use that. There's a lot of opportunities for him to play. It's all about winning matches and sessions and we'll look after Vaughan as much as we can. We could look at that or send him out somewhere in the world. We see him as an integral part of our plans. There's lots of cricket coming up. He's played for England for ten years and deserves a bit of a break.
"Andrew Strauss came back and did well (after a break] and Vaughan will hopefully do that as well. Going abroad might put his mind right. We will organise where he goes so he can try and get back in the side. We know what he is capable of."
Miller added that Vaughan's replacement as captain, Kevin Pietersen, was relishing the upcoming tour, which begins in December. "He (Pietersen] is very competitive. He wants to win home and away," said Miller.
Owais Shah yesterday became the beneficiary of the decision to give Vaughan a rest period when he was named in England's 15-man party for the tour of India.
The Middlesex batsman also won his on-going tussle with long-term rival Ravi Bopara, who pipped him for a spot in the XI during the 1-0 away defeat to Sri Lanka and also in the squad selected for the final Test against South Africa last month.
Although Bopara, 23, has enjoyed an outstanding season – scoring 1,162 runs in a dozen LV County Championship appearances – in which he was named as the Young Cricketer of the Year, Pietersen is a known fan of Shah.
The 29-year-old, a renowned player of spin, will now get the chance to fight for a third Test cap, having been dropped after each of his matches to date. His debut came in India two years ago when he stepped in for the ill Alastair Cook and struck an imperious 88 in the series-levelling victory in Mumbai.
"Ravi is going to be disappointed," said Miller. "We have one cover batsman, Owais has done well this year, and the decision of the selectors was we would go in that direction. He did well in India on his debut a few years ago and we felt that was the right way to go at this moment in time."
In what is a double snub to Essex, wicketkeeper James Foster was also overlooked, with Tim Ambrose retained despite his poor summer. Although it is anticipated that Sussex's Matt Prior will now assume the role of No1 keeper in all forms of the game, the four-man selection panel have emphasised their faith in Ambrose by adding him as cover for the limited-overs series before the tour.
Foster, who has built a strong case for a recall, was impressive in the 2001-02 series against India but, according to the England camp, he was not picked for either the full tour or in the performance squad due to a shoulder injury.
Yorkshire all-rounder Adil Rashid, whose leg-spin reaped 62 wickets in the County Championship, will be among a group of developing players on standby for the Tests in case of injury or illness.
• The Board of Control for Cricket in India has confirmed the fourth one-day international of England's tour has been moved from Jamshedpur to Bangalore, for a day/night match on 23 November.
The full article contains 809 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
